A New Name

A New Name

My name is Milissa Ewing. I am a descendant of Chief Joe Harris of the ‘Namgis Band of the Kwakwakawak Nation. I am also a descendant of Annie Summers from England, of George Barr from Ireland, and Ole Loraas from Norway. I, like many Canadians, don’t fit into one neat ethnic category.

When I was a child, my family lived in a small, racially-charged town with a huge divide between the townsite and the reserve. One day, while swimming at the public pool, I accidentally splashed another kid who turned around to yell at me, “go back to the reserve you dirty Indian!” That same week, I tried to befriend a First Nations girl in my class and her mom told her, “why do you want to hang out with that white girl from the suburbs?”

Was I the “Indian” from the reserve or the “White Girl” from the suburbs?

Incidents like this began to shape how I saw myself. I became someone who didn’t belong. I wasn’t at home in either culture and even worse I started to feel like an imposter – someone always pretending. Without even realizing it, that false name, that false identity took hold: Imposter.

In First Nations culture, names are significant and powerful. First Nations children who were sent to residential school were stripped of their names and sometimes even given a number to erase identity. We see now how many First Nations are reclaiming traditional territorial names as a way of restoring that which was taken.

Thankfully, names are very significant to God, too. We read in the Bible of God giving people new names: Abram to Abraham; Jacob to Israel; Paul to Saul. A new name signifies a new calling, a new identity, an affirmation of purpose and meaning.

Last June, Mark and Cheryl Buchanan spoke at Tenth Church about reconciliation with our First Nations brothers and sisters. I cried as I saw what I thought was impossible: drumming and praying in the Musqueam language at the front of the sanctuary. When I thanked Cheryl afterwards, I confessed that while I knew God was calling me to his reconciliation work, I still wasn’t sure what my role was: I always felt like an outsider – an imposter – in both First Nations and Caucasian circles.

Cheryl paused. And then she said something like this:

“I sense God wanting to tell you that your name is not Imposter. That’s a false name you’ve been carrying for too long and it’s getting in the way of His good work. God wants to give you a new name. Your name is Bridge.”

The next day, I was speaking with my spiritual director about a completely different issue and like Cheryl the night before, my spiritual director paused and said:

“I am not sure if this means something to you, but I think God is calling you to be a bridge. He’s made you to be a bridge.”

Then a few weeks ago, I met with a professor at a local theological and after sharing some of my story, he exclaimed:

“Well, it seems clear that God is calling you to be a bridge! What an opportunity!”

At this point, my thought was, “Okay, God. I get it. You’re not just asking me to be a bridge, but you’re naming me – you’re telling me something about who you made me to be. What does this mean?”

A physical bridge is something that crosses the wide gap that can separate people from one another. But, the gap is not always geographic. There is often a larger relational and spiritual gap. A gap that can only be crossed through a relational or spiritual bridge.

As I ponder this new name, I realize that this is not just about my own personal calling. As God’s people, we are all called to bridge the gap between God and the world. We are all called to bridge the gap between those in conflict. We are all called to bridge the gap between nations. And I believe that we are all called now, at this particular point in Canada’s story, to be the painful bridge between what was and what will be, moving toward a future where we will all be reconciled under one Creator God.

This is an excerpt from a story that Milissa told within a sermon preached by Ken Shigematsu on September 17, 2017, at Tenth Church.
Click here to listen to the entire sermon, “Truth and Reconciliation”.

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Carmen Kinniburgh

District Children’s Ministry Partner

Children’s ministry involves developing leaders, discipling children and families, exercising creativity, with an emphasis on fun and building relationships that help others to experience God’s love as they are loved by people who know God’s love. Carmen has served in children’s ministries as a volunteer, coordinator, curriculum writer, camp speaker, and pastor. Her desire in ministry and life is to help others (whether they be children, youth, or adults) to hear God’s voice and to experience the freedom and fullness of love found in knowing Jesus and living kingdom lives. Whether your children’s ministry is led by volunteers or a pastoral leader, Carmen would love to connect, build networks, support, resource, pray with, and provide care in whatever areas are needed.

Carmen lives in Vernon with her husband, Jeremy, and their two teenage kids. She loves playing soccer, hiking, camping, and theatre. She and Jeremy have founded two new ministries called Threshold Initiatives and Contributing Pastor.

Terry Ann Opperman

Official Worker

David has served at Lakewood Alliance Church since the fall of 2002, first as an associate, then as Lead Pastor starting in November 2005. David has been on various committees including DEXCOM, District Nominating Committee, a few General Assembly Committees, and the Rules Committee for District Conference. David has an interest in church governance and seeing healthy leaders serving on healthy boards in order to better equip and serve the church.

David and Tara are in the process of launching their three young adult sons and enjoy seeing the trajectories their lives are taking. David enjoys woodwork and getting out cross-country skiing in the winter.

Steve Schneider

Lay Person

Steve is a layperson and a member of Peace Portal Alliance Church in Surrey. He has been married to his wife Brenda since 1984. They have two adult daughters. He is an engineer by background and holds an MBA from Heriot-Watt University. He works in the paper industry and is also the President of SGS Consulting Ltd. He has recently become a licensed worker in the CPD.

Steve has served in varied ways over the years but has more recently been focussed on church board work. He served on his first church board 36 years ago. Since that time, he has served on four different church boards and the District Executive Committee of the CPD. Over the last 12 years Steve has actively been teaching and consulting with church and not-for-profit boards within and outside of The Alliance Canada to help them develop healthy governance practices.

Keith Cheung

English Lead Pastor at Burnaby Alliance Church

Keith was also an active member at Westside Calgary Chinese Alliance Church before moving to Vancouver to begin full-time pastoral ministry. After a brief stint pastoring in a church from another denomination, Keith began serving as the English Lead Pastor at Burnaby Alliance Church in 2017 where he continues to serve today.

Keith is married to Cecelia (20 years this year!) and they are raising 2 beautiful daughters (11 and 6) who they adopted from Taiwan and Korea respectively. He loves, in no particular order, cooking and eating and conversations, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, road cycling, family reunions, and good movies and music.

Carol Goh

District Chaplains Committee Chair

carol@mycac.ca

Carol Goh has chaired the District Chaplains Committee and served on the Association for Alliance Chaplains (AAC) National Committee since 2018. She completed her Masters degree in Chaplaincy in Spiritual Care from Trinity Western Seminary and is the Neighborhood Chaplain and Pastor for Seniors at Chilliwack Alliance. As a chaplain, Carol invests in the neighborhood (parish) around the church through connecting with those who live, work, and go to school there. She intentionally supports the local public elementary school and other local organizations so that together they can weave together the fabric of care for the inhabitants. The Goh household includes her husband Andrew, their three teenage sons, Andrew’s mother, and their golden doodle.

David Driedger

Board Leadership Training Partner

dave@lakewoodalliance.com

David has served at Lakewood Alliance Church since the fall of 2002, first as an associate, then as Lead Pastor starting in November 2005. David has been on various committees including DEXCOM, District Nominating Committee, a few General Assembly Committees, and the Rules Committee for District Conference. David has an interest in church governance and seeing healthy leaders serving on healthy boards in order to better equip and serve the church.

David and Tara are in the process of launching their three young adult sons and enjoy seeing the trajectories their lives are taking. David enjoys woodwork and getting out cross-country skiing in the winter.

Daren Wride

Transitional Pastors Network Coordinator

dwride@shaw.ca

Daren Wride has been serving in transitional roles since 2011. He has been on the ground as Transitional Pastor in multiple churches around the province and has engaged as a Transitional Coach with several other churches. Prior to his transitional work, Daren pastored three churches in Alberta and BC for a total of nearly 20 years. Daren has also spent time in the professional speaking and internet marketing worlds and usually has a related project on the go.

Geoff Stewart

District Youth Ministry Partner

geoffs@peaceportalalliance.com

Youth ministry is among the most demanding ministries in the church from a relational standpoint, serving young people who are defining the ever changing culture we live in. Leading in youth ministry is best not done alone, and Geoff desires to help our youth pastors serve and encourage one another through the sharing of resources, wisdom, experience, and perspective. In the ever-changing world of today’s high school student, it is vital for us as youth pastors to be changing with them to understand the world they are navigating and share with them the life changing truth of the Gospel.

Geoff has been a youth pastor for 6 years at Peace Portal Alliance Church and volunteered for 10 years before that in the same church. He is passionate about seeing young people transformed by Jesus and becoming leaders in their school and community. He and his wife Lavonne live in South Surrey with their cats Norman and Puff Daddy.

Andy Lambkin

Team Lead - Property Development & Nest Housing Society

andy.lambkin@gmail.com

Andy wears two hats in the Canadian Pacific District. He serves as our New Venture implementer, helping new communities of faith emerge across our province, and he also leads the Nest housing Society, a non-profit affordable housing society working with local churches to utilize their land for social good while fulfilling critical ministry priorities. If you have questions about either of these areas, please reach out.

Personally, Andy is married to Jolie and they have four kids. Residing in North Vancouver, they call simplechurches, a network of house churches, their church home.

Carmen Kinniburgh

District Children’s Ministry Partner

cekinniburgh@gmail.com

Children’s ministry involves developing leaders, discipling children and families, exercising creativity, with an emphasis on fun and building relationships that help others to experience God’s love as they are loved by people who know God’s love. Carmen has served in children’s ministries as a volunteer, coordinator, curriculum writer, camp speaker, and pastor. Her desire in ministry and life is to help others (whether they be children, youth, or adults) to hear God’s voice and to experience the freedom and fullness of love found in knowing Jesus and living kingdom lives. Whether your children’s ministry is led by volunteers or a pastoral leader, Carmen would love to connect, build networks, support, resource, pray with, and provide care in whatever areas are needed.

Carmen lives in Vernon with her husband, Jeremy, and their two teenage kids. She loves playing soccer, hiking, camping, and theatre. She and Jeremy have founded two new ministries called Threshold Initiatives and Contributing Pastor.